US-Venezuela Bilateral Relations During the Presidency of D. Trump
Students Name: Shypka Viktoriia Yuriivna
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: International Relations
Institute: Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Mode of Study: part
Academic Year: 2020-2021 н.р.
Language of Defence: англійська
Abstract: Shypka V.Y., Buchyn M.A. (supervisor). US-Venezuela bilateral relations during the presidency of D. Trump. Master’s thesis. – Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, 2020. Extended abstract. The peculiarities of formation, problems and prospects of development of bilateral relations between the US and Venezuela during the presidency of D. Trump are investigated in the work. It is proved that despite the significant relevance of the chosen topic for research, there is no comprehensive study of American-Venezuelan relations during the reign of D. Trump. This is due, in particular, to the incompleteness of the chosen study period. Therefore, it can be assumed that a more thorough study of the United States - Venezuela relations will be a matter for future scientific research. At the same time, an important source was a number of publications related to the US foreign policy towards Latin America in general, revealing, at the same time, also certain aspects of the development of relations between the United States and Venezuela [1-5]. Moreover, certain analytical materials were analyzed, as well as information resources and news that reveal some aspects of the United States - Venezuela relations during Trump’s presidency. Study object – bilateral relations between the United States and Venezuela. Scope of research – peculiarities of the formation, problems and prospects of bilateral relations between the United States and Venezuela during the presidency of D. Trump. Goal of research: to carry out a comprehensive political analysis of the problem of formation and development of bilateral relations between the United States and Venezuela during the presidency of D. Trump. It is concluded that political and diplomatic relations between the United States and Venezuela deteriorated almost immediately after the election victory of D. Trump and were due to both the tough policy of the US administration towards N. Maduro and the political conflict and confrontation between the government and opposition in Venezuela, which provoked humanitarian crisis. It is shown that the culmination of the confrontation in the country was January 2019, when opposition leader H. Guaido proclaimed himself interim president of Venezuela and was recognized and supported by D. Trump. The peculiarities of the US administration’s policy towards Venezuela, which consisted of large-scale sanctions and pressure on N. Maduro and the mobilization of the international community to ensure the democratic transit of the country, are revealed. It was proved that economic relations between the United States and Venezuela have always been significantly better than political relations, due to the fact that the two countries have important common economic interests, primarily in the field of oil production and refining. However, in the last period of D. Trump’s term, the level of trade between countries, which gradually decreased due to the gradual introduction of the US sanctions, was reduced to almost zero. It is shown that despite large-scale the US pressure on Venezuela, the United States President D. Trump has not succeeded in overthrowing Venezuelan dictator N. Maduro. It is substantiated that the ineffectiveness of the US foreign policy towards Venezuela is due to both external and internal factors. Among the first group, a foreign factor is singled out - opposition to American policy towards Venezuela by such geopolitical rivals and enemies of the United States as the Russian Federation, China, Iran, Cuba, and others. The second group of factors includes the inconsistency of the foreign policy of the D. Trump administration, as well as the implementation of its strategy by the American president through the prism of the electoral process and the desire to win the support of Florida voters. It is predicted that after the victory on the US election of J. Biden, the US foreign policy towards Venezuela will not undergo a significant transformation, as both the current the United States President D. Trump and his successor J. Biden seek to maintain the most effective pressure on N. Maduro to democratization of the Venezuelan political system. At the same time, it has been argued that the US foreign policy towards Venezuela may become more consistent and multilateral in the future, involve other influential international actors who are American allies, and thus has every chance to become more effective [6]. Keywords: the United States, Venezuela, D. Trump, N. Maduro, H. Guaido, sanctions, bilateral relations. References. 7. Вакарчук К. Політика адміністрації Д. Трампа щодо країн Латинської Америки: прогнози та перспективи / К. Вакарчук // Американська історія та політика. – 2018. – № 5. – С. 163-169. 8. Кодзоев М. США, Куба и Латинская Америка. Реализация региональной политики Вашингтона в период правления Д. Трампа / М. Кодзоев // Свободная мысль. – 2020. – № 5. – С. 99-110. 9. Манойло А. Технология демонтажа чавистов: «Венесуэлский прецедент» / А. Манойло, К. Стригунов // Актуальные проблемы Европы. – 2020. – № 1. – С. 213-237. 10. Сударев В. Возможности и пределы гегемонии США в Латинской Америке / В. Сударев // Латинская Америка. – 2019. – № 11. – С. 6-14. 11. Яковлев П. Политика Д. Трампа в Латинской Америке: итоги и перспективы [Електронний ресурс] / П. Яковлев // Перспективы. – 2020. Режим доступу: http://www.perspektivy.info/oykumena/amerika/politika_d_trampa_v_latinskoj_amerike_itogi_i_perspektivy_2020-09-28.htm 12. Gonzalez J. Would Joe Biden Change U.S. Policy Toward Venezuela? [Електронний ресурс] / J. Gonzalez, D. Arria, R. Walser and oth. // Latin America Advisor. – 21 серпня 2020. – Режим доступу: https://www.thedialogue.org/analysis/would-joe-biden-change-u-s-policy-toward-venezuela/